The Indian rupee today lost 18 paise against the $ in early trade on strong demand for the greenback from importers amid the US currency rising against other currencies.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the domestic currency was quoted at 48.12 a $ in early trade, a loss of 18 paise over the previous close of 47.94/95.
Dealers said increased dollar demand from importers and the US currency's gains against other currencies impacted negatively the rupee sentiments.
Expectations of capital outflows by foreign funds as domestic stock markets may open weak in line with subdued trends on the other Asian equity markets, which were down up to 1 per cent, also weighed on the rupee, they added.